Rosebud symbolizes the loss of youthful innocence and happiness that Charles Foster Kane unknowingly searched in vain to recapture. Perhaps we each have our own personal Rosebud, a time of pure uncomplicated enjoyment. For me, that time was the time spent with The Little Golden Books into which I could transport myself and from which I learned the lessons that would serve me well throughout life, but I didn’t fully understand the lessons then.
Scuffy the Tugboat was not satisfied with the little world of the bathtub and full of self-confidence, Scuffy takes advantage of the first opportunity that presents itself to travel down a small stream. But, this venture turns out to be a step on a slippery slope and Scuffy finds himself on an unexpected voyage of discovery. After seeing the world from the various waterways, he is reunited with his family. We each set out from time to time on our Scuffy the Tugboat adventures and, in doing so, we expand our world and, if we are lucky, we find our way home and realize how special home is.
For Sooki, The Saggy Baggy Elephant, life’s challenges seemed overwhelming as he viewed himself as one of a kind, alone in the world, like no other, and this belief was reinforced by a parrot’s mocking of his large floppy ears, long nose and wrinkled skin so that this saggy baggy elephant lost all self-confidence. But, this feeling rapidly vanishes when Sooki’s search ends with his meeting of others who look just like him and, in celebration, he explodes with a “one-two-three-kick.” We each have times when we feel that we are alone in the world, that no one shares our thoughts and dreams, but by searching both in and out, if we are lucky, we find others who are like us and realize how special that connection is.
The Poky Little Puppy always seemed to be a step behind his siblings and so, when the others snuck out to frolic, the Poky Little Puppy lagged behind not because of his inability to keep up, but because he observes his world. His action is rewarded when the other puppies, having escaped from their yard by digging under the fence, are caught. While the other puppies are scolded and sent to bed, the Poky Little Puppy gets rice pudding and then, when a similar incident happens, he gets chocolate custard for dessert. Rewarded twice and feeling quite proud of himself, the table turn when the other puppies sneak out, fill the hole under the fence and are rewarded with strawberry shortcake while the Poky Little Puppy arrives too late, has to squeeze through the fence boards, and goes to bed hungry and feeling "very sorry for himself." We each have times when we have met with some success and find ourselves self-assured and certain of future success if we follow the same path, but, with experience, we learn that we have to move beyond observance to action, and to be too full of ourselves.
The Little Golden Books, read to me with love, had so much to offer in a time of innocence and endless possibility.
1 comment:
Very nice! I'm impressed that you remember so many of the stories. The only one that sounded familiar to me was The Pokey Little Puppy. I guess there are many lessons to be learned from the stories of our childhood!
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